Under floodlights at Yas Marina Circuit, Lewis Hamilton secured his second Formula One drivers’ title and his first with Mercedes, winning the 2014 season finale from pole sitter Nico Rosberg. The victory was his 11th of a remarkable campaign and closed a six-year wait since his 2008 championship.
An electric start under double-points pressure
The title duel reached its climax in the first Grand Prix to award double points. Starting from second on the grid, Hamilton launched with an electric getaway that carried him past his team-mate and rival well before Turn One. For the opening 23 laps, Rosberg kept him honest, the two Mercedes rarely separated by more than two seconds.
A rival’s car falls silent on lap 24
On lap 24, Rosberg’s challenge unravelled. An ERS systems failure struck his car, robbing it of hybrid power and beginning a cascade of trouble. He urged his race engineer to find a way to the flag in fifth place, the position he needed should Hamilton encounter terminal trouble, but worsening brake wear offered no reprieve.
Hamilton’s lead stretched with every compromised corner. As Rosberg slid further down the order, his hopes dissolved lap by lap until he drifted completely out of the points. In one final cruel twist, the ailing W05 was lapped by Hamilton two laps from home, yet Rosberg refused to retire the broken machine.
Hamilton crossed the line in 1:39:02.619, finishing on 384 points to claim the title by 67. The win lifted him to third on the all-time victory list with 33 career wins. Only Niki Lauda and Jack Brabham had previously bridged a gap of six years between championships, and to do so with a second team was a feat on its own.
“Woooooaaahh world champion, oh my God, can’t believe it, thanks everyone,” came the cry from the cockpit after the chequered flag. The outburst captured the weight of a duel that had swung at Spa in August, when a collision left him trailing by 29 points, only for five wins in the next six races to carry him to Abu Dhabi in control.
A title earned inside the cauldron of an intra-team fight had also secured the prize that had eluded him since the final corner of Interlagos in 2008. The long wait was over.
